Sewing-machine.



A.BPPLER. SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1911.

1,076,878. Patented 00t.28,1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET l.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1911.

v o I I .i /0 3 19 0 2/ 7\ /7 wines-ses- (O X Inventor.- m

K-WWOM COLUMBIA pLANounAPn cm,

Patented 001128, 1913.

6 BHEETS-SHBET 2.

iffy. 2.

A. EPPLER.

SEWING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 27, 1911.

1,076,878. Patented Oct.28,1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60.. WASHINGTON. D c,

A; 'EPPLER.

SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION IILED JULY 27, 1911.

1,076,878. Patented 0015.28, 1913.

e SHEETEr-SHEET 4.

haven/ton.-

A. EPPLER.

SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1911.

Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

COLUMBIA PLANOCIRAPH 60., WASHINGTON. D, c.

A. BPPLER.

SEWING MACHINE. APPLIUATION rnmn JULY 27, 1911.

1,076,878. Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

hfiinesses: Inventor ha WA) m @z 2 Kin. M0M 4 'nivirnn sTArEs PATENTOFFICE.

ANDREW EPPILER, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSET TS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOEIVEAGHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JEBfiEY, A GOrBPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

SEWING-MAUHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 28, 1913.

Application filed July 27, 18. Serial 1%. 640,836.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, ,hninnnv EPPLER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essexand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new d usefulImprovements in Sewing- Mechines; and do hereby declare the following tohe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it apperta-ins. to make anduse the same.

'lhe invention relates to welt sewing 111achines such as are used themanufacture of boo-ts and shoes, and more particularly to devices forsevering the welt at the comple tion of the sewing operation, andholding the severed end in proper position for attachment to a shoe atthe beginning of the next sewing operation, and to devices. cooperatingtherewith.

lllelt severing end holding devices as heretofore constructed have beenarranged to sever the welt a; predetermined point beyond the-welt guide,and have been operated to release the severed end of the welt the needlehas drawn the first loop of thread through the work, and before theinitial feed oi the work takes place. With this construction. and modeof operation the welt is liable to be drawn away from the shoe when thewelt guide is Withdrawn preparatory to the feed of the shoe, andespecially in machines like the Goodyear turn and welt machine, in"which the welt guide is; withdrawn after the needle has been retractedand. is held in its. rearward position during the feed 7 it isaccordingly one object of the invention to provide welt severing andholding devices haw-ring anovel and improved construction and mode ofoperation wherehy the proper attachment of the end of the welt to theshoe is insured.

To this end one feature of the invention contemplates the provision in owelt sewing machine oi welt severing and holding devices whichcontinueto hold the end of the welt clearing est the machine so that thewelt is held against displaeei-nent in e uniformly reliable nianneruntil its end has been secured to the shoe. In this construction thewelt holding devices remain in engagement with the weltdnring at leastthe initial teed of the shoe,

end they are so mounted that they movewith the shoe din-111g its feedingmovement and nmintein the welt in proper position with re lation to theshoe, and insure the proper drawing of the welt through the welt guidewhen the guide is retracted and during the teed of the shoe.

Further feetures of the invention relate to theconstruction and mode ofoperation oil the devices which determine the extent to. which the weltmay be drown forward in reinowing the shoe preparetory to severing andholding the welt, and to the construetion of the devices for severingand holding the thread.

The. various features of the invention will be: nnderstood from aninspection of the accompanying drewings and the following doteileddescription of the mechanism illustrated therein.

In the drewings Figure 1 is a. left-hand side elevation of o welt andtorn sewing niachine embodying the various features of the invention intheir preferred forms; Fi 2 is: at front elevation of the machine; Fi 3is a. detail sectional elevation showing a part of the welt severing andholding devices; Fig. 4: is a plan view showing the welt severing on"holding devices, parts of the machine being broken away or omitted forthe sake of clearness; Fig. 5 is a. detail plan view showing themechanism for rendering active the devices for determining the extent towhich the welt is withdrawn in removing the shoe Fig. 6 is: a plan viewpartly in section showing the welt holding and seven devices in advancedposition; Fig. 7 is e sectional elevation on line 7 4", Fig. 6; Fig. 8 avertical sectional view on line 8-8, Fig. ill; Fig. 9 is a verticalsectional view tllirough the devices for determining the forwrn'dniovcniei'rt oi the welt; Fig. 9 is a deteil: sectional View on line9--9, Fig. 7 Fig. 10 is a sectional view on. line 1:0--16), Fig. 9; Fig.11 is a detail front view of the devices: for severing and heldthethread; and Fig. 152 is a sectional f elevation online 12-l2, Fig. 11,looking in jthe direction of the arrow.

lea-st one cycle of operations In the drawings the invention is showneinbeched 1n the welt and turn sewing machine shown and described in myprior up 1- plieetion Serial No. 4.4%,;42, tiled ilrugust 8, "1908..This machine 18 provided with the jcurved hoot needle 1. the leoper 2,the

thread liaiger 3, the feed point l, the channel 5 guide 5, the. weltguide 6, and the heck gage 1 a which are operated in the well knownmanner to unite the insole, upper and welt by a chain stitch seam.

The devices for severing and holding the welt comprise the welt grippingjaws 8 and 9 and the welt severing knife 10 which are held in retractedposition during the sewing of the shoe, and are advanced to sever andhold the welt after the sewing operation has been completed and themachine has been brought to rest with the stitch forming devices inposition for the removal of the shoe. The welt holding jaws are carriedupon the front end of a bar 11 mounted to slide in a carrier arm 12which is mounted to swing about a vertical shaft 13. The shaft 13 ismounted in a bearing in a fixed bracket 14, and the carrier arm 12 isheld in normal position against a stop 15 by a spring 16. The upper jaw8 of the welt holder is formed by the projecting front end of the bar11, and the lower jaw 9 is formed on the front end of a lever 17 pivotedto the bar by means of an eccentric pivot 18 which may be turned toadjust the jaw 9 with relation to the jaw 8. The bar 11 is recessed toform a guide for the knife carrying bar 19, to the forward end of whichthe knife 10 is secured. The knife carrying bar is provided at itsforward end with a cam surface 20 arranged to engage the rear end of thelever 12 and actuate the lever to close the welt holding jaws. The rearend of the lever 17 is slotted at 21 to form a spring arm 22 so that thejaw 9 is yieldingly forced against the welt.

The gripper carrying bar 11 is advanced and retracted through a gearsegment 23 secured to the shaft 13 and engaging a rack 24 formed on thebar. The cutter carrying bar 19 is independently reciprocated by apinion 25 secured to the shaft 13 and engaging a rack 26 formed on thebar. The shaft 13 is rocked to advance and retract the welt holding jawsand cutter through a reciprocating rack bar 27 arranged to engage apinion 28 secured to the upper end of the shaft 13. The rack bar isactuated through a bell crank lever 29, one arm of which is connectedthrough a rod 30 with a treadle (not shown), and the other arm of whichis connected with the bar 27 by means of a pin 31 engaging a slot 32 inthe arm. The gripper and cutter carrying bars are held in retractedposition by a spring 33 connected with the bell crank lever 29. hen thebars are in this position the lower jaw of the welt gripper is held inopen position by the engagement of the rear end of the lever 17 with afixed cam lug 34.

\Vhen the welt is to be severed and held, the operator depresses thetreadle connected with the rod 30, thereby raising the rod and rockingthe shaft 13 in a direction to advance the gripper and cutter bars. Thebars move forward in unison until the jaws of the welt holder havepassed on opposite sides of the welt, and the guard 35 on the lower jawhas engaged the inner edge of the welt. When the gripper bar reachesthis position the teeth of the gear se ment 23 pass from engagementwit-h the teeth of the rack 24, and the bar is neld locked in positionby the engagement of a locking segment 36 formed on the gear with alocking segment 37 formed on the bar. During the continued movement ofthe shaft 13 the gear 25 continues to advance the cutter bar 19. Duringthe first part of the advance movement of the cutter bar with relationto the gripper bar, the cam 20 on the front end of the cutter baractuates the gripper lever 17 to close the jaws of the gripper, and thenduring the continued forward movement of the cutter bar the knife 10acts to sever the welt. The parts are now in the position indicated inFig. 6 and in dotted lines in Fig. 4, with the welt holding jaws firmlygripping the severed end of the welt supply beyond the welt guide andholding it in proper position for attachment to a shoe at the beginningof the next sewing operation. The parts are held in this position by alatch 38 pivoted to the bracket 14 and arranged to engage the front endof the actuating rack bar 27 when this bar is in its retracted position.The latch 38 is drawn yieldingly forward into position to'engage andhold the rack bar 27 by a spring 39. At the beginning of the sewingoperation upon the next shoe, the

welt holding jaws continue to hold the end of the welt until after thewelt guide has been withdrawn from the shoe and until the initial feedof the shoe has been completed, and during the feed of the shoe the armcarrying the cutter and gripper bars is swung about the shaft 13, sothat the welt holding jaws move forward with the shoe and hold the endof the welt in proper relation to the shoe, and also drawthe weltthrough the welt guide so that all danger of displacing the welt isavoided. In the construction shown, the carrier for the welt holdinggripper is actuated to move the gripper with the shoe during the initialfeed through connection with the feed slide 40 which carries the awl andchannel guide. As shown, this connection comprises a bar 41, one end ofwhich is adjustably secured to the feed slide through a split bearingand clamping bolt 42 (Fig. 1) and the other end of which is providedwith a depending finger 43 arranged to cooperate with a yielding dog 44carried by the gripper bar. The dog 44 is pivoted on the gripper bar andis held in normal position by a spring 45. This yielding dog is providedin order that the welt holding gripper may not be moved laterally by theslight forward movement of the feed slide which occurs upon starting themachine prior to the initial advance movement of the needle.

tweets when the intrelnne is *breu ie to at the completion "ofthbltietti-t (in "with 1 the pa-its 'in positi-on *Eorthe removal er the1 slice, thefteed slide "is mushy in siich p'ositieh tha t it will morefemurs sligh the machine is started. t hth the y when is advanced th"bring the or of the finger. whentheimmme is started j testing 1 4 4.when the feed slide given its slight, l I l forward inoi' eiiie1it,ljiit hn t heret-rii iino'vey to the 1 er jja'sses 3 to the "right "oithe dog so that the dogsnaps up into position in front '0 "the fin ger.Now during the advahee increment oi the teed slide in giving the initialfeed to 3 the shoe, the finger eShearsagainst the side Q the fingerstill rides on the top ment of the teed "slide, jire'parato initial feedof the sl1ti'e, tlie "ii 7 of the dog .1- and swingsttemm '12 about theshaft IS, thus 'hioying the welt holding release the actuating rackberg? The parts are soadiusted that thorelease of the rack berth-hesplace as th effeed oi theshoe a completed, and the spring 33 acts torock the shaft 13 and retract'th'e gripperand Clittter bars. During thisinci ement of the rock I shaft 13 the Qear fZS first detracts the cutterindependently otthe gripper bar, and then 1 the cutter and gripper barsare moved in unison. to their rearward position. The movement of thecutter bar with relation to the gripper bar causes the cam 20 to re"lease the jaw 9 of the gripper so that the gripper inay swingaway tronithe welt, and during the return nieyenient'ot the gripper bar the end ofthe gripper lever 1'7 rides up the cam lug 34: so that the jawf) ispositiyelyopened. The return lllOVQlliBIlt-Of the gripper bar alsoWithdraws'the dog 41 i "liroin engagement with the finger 43, mum thecarrierarin 24 is free to bereturned to normal position against the stop15 by the spring 16. This brings the parts into their edslide isposiftidn, the sheer is the qih th ett thec ldg Mwhenthetgfiiifiercarrying bai' re Welt j holder into position to grip the dwelt, and Ythe 44 yields "ttnd rides under the end 1 Jews with the shoe during itsinitial feed. L During this incvenient o'fthe'carrler arm 12 1 the lugonthefsid'e oftlie arinengages "an 1' usting screw ipcarried by the'lateh lever 38, and swings the latch 38 in a -direction to g iihi-ni-ngor liin'i nigthe *forthe welt are rendered operati'en hy the reseniovemesrrm ted to the cam shaft (s? the mschiiie in i'reeing' theneedle teeth the 16015 and bringing the parts in'th posi: tron ttdr t eremoval oi the shoe, and are rendered at iv'e the forward movement (itthe cahi shaft at the beginning 'ot the next sewing operation. Thedevices "are thus rendered active at the proper time n th'cut anyattentien or care on the part he o 'aeratciigitnd "reinadtiveduring theleper-anon of the machine.

hown, e Welt W led to the Welt guide ot er "L 1 e-pulley 5L8 which ismountedto t1 n "freely ens controlling or ineasun iir'g sleeve Thesleeve 3:9 is mounted npon a fixed stud 50 and carries a clamping jawadtt itfed to engage and clamp the welt agaihst he pulley 4:8. Theclamping jaw 51 iscarriedbn tine arm ofa bell crank lever 52, heotherarni of which is arranged to be engaged by tlieend of a plunger 53nieunted within *the stud 50. The clamp is held normallyout"of'engagelnent with the welt by a spring 5'4. The movement of themeasuring sleeve lflonthe stud 50 is limited by a stop pin steeds-ed tothe sleeve and Le-ranged to play within slot 56 formed in a stat-ieiiarydisk 57. The disk is held in fixed pesitienbetween a shoulder on thestud 50'trndthesurfaced?the braokethS in which the stud is mounted. Thestop pin is held normally in engagement withone'end oithe slot56 byatorsionalspring 59, one end of which is'connectedto a flange on the endof thestiid, and the other cnd or which is conne'cted with the measuringsleeve. The clanip actuating plunger 53 is formed in two sectionsseparated by a spring 00 which may yield as the plunger is advanced inforcing;- the clamp against the Welt. The rear "end of "the plunger isengaged by a Cttin shoe 61 adjustably secured to the rear end of an arm62 by a set screw 63. The EII'I lTGQ is carried by a rock shaft (54Ewhich elso'carries an arm 65 arranged to be en i rag'edand operated bythe lever 66 through which the tension is thrown off when the 111: chineis reversed at the end of the sewing; o ieration. The lever 66 carriesan arm 67 provided "with bearing surfaces 68 and. 69 which are adaptedto bear against a disk on the earn shaft 70 of the machine. The disk isprovided with an actuating" notch 71 which en-ga ges the shoulderbetween the bean ing surfaces 68 and (39 when the inachine is reversed,and forces the arm 67 back, thus roclting the bell cra nk lever 66 tothrow oil This movement of the plunger rocks the bell crank lever 52 andforces the clamp 51 against the welt, and thus connects the welt andpulley 48 with the measuring disk 49, so that these parts are heldagainst relative movement. Now when the shoe is drawn forward to drawthe welt through the welt guide, the measuring sleeve 49 is rotatedagainst the tension of the spring 59 until the pin 55 engages the end ofthe slot 56,

when further advance movement of the welt is prevented. The length ofthe slot 56 therefore determines the extent to which the welt may bedrawn forward in removing the shoe and bringing the welt into properposition for the operation of the welt severing and holding devices. henthe machine is started, the arm 67 is swung into normal position asindicated in Fig. 1, and the lever 61 is swung away from the end of theplunger 53 so that the welt clamp is released and is disengaged from thewelt by the spring 54. The measuring sle vs 49 immediately returns tonormal position under the influence of the spring 59, and the welt isfree to pass over the pulley l8 and the pulley is free to rotate aboutthe measuring sleeve during the sewing operation.

The devices for severing and holding the thread after the welt has beensevered consist of a spring clamping plate 72 and a knife T3 projectingfrom the plate. The clamping plate is secured to the looper 2 andcooperates with the surface of the looper in clamping the thread, asindicated in Figs. 11 and 12. After the welt has been severed, the shoeis manipulated by the operator to carry the thread between the plate 72and the surface of the looper, and then by a downward movement of theshoe the thread is carried across the edge of the knife 72 and severed.The knife 72 is so arranged that a short length of free thread isprovided beyond the clamping plate. During the initial loop drawingstroke a part of this free thread will be drawn through the holdingdevice, and the free end of the thread will therefore be held undertension during the drawing of the loop, and thus a tight initial stitchwill be formed.

When the parts are in the proper position for the removal of the shoe,the thread finger is in substantially the position indicated in Figs. 11and 12, and the thread is liable to pass up the shank of the threadfinger when it is carried up into the thread holding device. If thisshould occur the thread finger would not operate properly upon thethread in forming the first stitch. In order to in sure the properengagement of the thread finger with the thread, the finger is providedwith a spur or projection 74 under which the thread passes, and whichoperates to retain the thread in proper position with relation to thethread finger, and insures the proper action of the thread handlingdevices when the machine is started.

lVhile it is preferred to employ the spe cific construction andarrangement of the parts shown and described, it will be understood thatthis construction and arrangement is not essential, and may be varied ormodified without departing from the broader features of the invention.

Having explained the nature and object of the invention, andspecifically described one form of machine in which it may be embodied,what I claim is l. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitchforming mechanism, devices for severing and holding the welt at thecomple tion of the sewing, and means for maintaining the holding devicesin engagement with the welt during at least one cycle of operations ofthe machine at the beginning of the sewing operation, substantially asdescribed.

2. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,welt severing and holding devices, mechanism for actuating the devicesto sever and hold the welt at the completion of the sewin operation andto hold the end of the welt diving at least the initial feed of the workat the beginning of the succeeding sewing operation, substantially asdescribed.

3. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,welt seven ing means, welt holding devices for holding the end of thewelt, mechanism for operating said means and devices to sever and holdthe welt at the completion of the sewing, and means for moving theholding devices with. the shoe during the initial feed of the shoe andfor disengaging the holding devices from the welt after the end of thewelt has been secured to the shoe, substantially as de scribed.

4. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,welt'severing and holding devices mounted for movement with the shoe,and means for operating the devices to sever and hold the welt at thecompletion of the sewing operation, substantially as described.

5. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,welt severing and holding devices mounted for movement with the shoe,means for advancing and actuating the devices to sever and hold the weltat the completion of the sewing operation, and mechanism forautomatically disengaging and retracting the devices after the end ofthe welt has been attached to the shoe, substantially as described.

6. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,welt severing and holding devices mounted for movement with the shoe,means for advancing and actuating the devices to sever and hold the weltat the completion of the sewing operation, and mechanism for disengagingand retracting the devices and returning them to initial position afterthe initial feed of the'shoe, substantially as described.

7. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism, awelt severing device, welt holding devices, mechanism for advancing andactuating the devices to sever and hold the welt, mechanism for movingthe welt holding devices in the direction of the feed of the shoe, andmechanism for retracting the cutting and holding devices and returningthem to initial position, substantially as described.

8. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,welt holding jaws, mechanism for advancing and retracting the jaws, awelt severing knife, and means operated by the advance of the knife toclose the jaws on the welt, substantially as described.

9. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch. forming mechanism,a carrier mounted to move in the direction of the feed of the shoe, areciprocating welt gripper mounted in the carrier, a reciprocatingcutter also mounted in the carrier, mechanism for reciprocating thegrippers and cutter, and mechanism for actuating the carrier,substantially as described.

10. A sewing machine, having, in combi nation, stitch forming mechanism,a reciprocating gripper bar carrying relatively movable welt grippingjaws, and a reciproeating cutter bar provided with means for closing andreleasing the aws, substantially as described.

11. A'sewing machine, having, in combi nation, stitch forming mechanism,a gripper bar provided with relatively movable welt gripping jaws, acutter bar provided with means to actuate the gripper jaws, andmechanism for advancing and retracting and relatively reciprocating thebars, substantially as described.

12. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,a reciproeating gripper bar provided with relatively movable weltgripping jaws, a reciprocating cutter bar provided with a cam forclosing the awe, and a fixed cam for opening the jaws, substantially asdescribed.

13. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,a reciprocating gripper bar provided with relatively movable weltgripping jaws, a rack and locking segment on the bar, a reciprocatingcutter bar, a rack on the bar, and a rock shaft carrying a gear segmentand locking segment engaging with the rack and segment on the gripperbar and also carrying a gear engaging rack on the cutter bar,substantially as described.

14. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,a carrier mounted to swing in the direction of the feed of the shoe, agripper bar mounted in the carrier, a cutter bar also mounted in thecarrier, a rock shaft arranged concentric with the pivotal axis of thecarrier, pinions car ried by the shaft engaging racks formed on thebars, and a locking segment on the shaft engaging a locking segment onthe gripper bar, substantially as described.

15. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,and means for determining the amount of welt drawn forward in theremoval of the shoe rendered active by the reversal of the machine,substantially as described.

16. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,means for limiting the withdrawal of the welt upon the removal of thework, and means operated by the reversal of the machine for renderingsaid limiting means active and operated by the forward movement of themachine for rendering said means inactive, substantially as described.

17. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,a welt measuring device mounted for limited movement with the welt,means for connecting the device with the welt at the completion of thesewing and for disconnecting the device from the welt and returning itto initial position at the beginning of the sewing operation,substantially as described.

18. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,a welt engaging device having a limited movement with the welt, meansengaging the device with the welt at the completion of the sewingoperation, and means for disengaging the device from the welt at thebeginning of the sewing operation, substantially as described.

19. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,a guide roll for the welt, a measuring sleeve having a limited forwardmovement, and means for connecting the welt, roll and sleeve at thecompletion of the sewing, substantially as described.

20. A sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism,a guide roll for the welt, a sleeve on which the roll is mounted, a weltclamp on the sleeve, a stop for limiting the forward rotation of thesleeve, and means for engaging the clamp with the welt at the completionof the sewing, substantially as described.

ANDREW EPPLER.

Witnesses:

Crrnsrnn E. Itoenns, MABEL ANNIE Swn'r'r.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

